Game pieces

ABSTRACT

An assembly of game pieces, in particular a chess set side, comprises tubular major pieces with indented rims to interengage in axial series and pack as a composite sheath on a mandrel with an intermediate sleeve made up from segmented tubular minor pieces.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,806,128 Endfield Apr. 23, 1974 GAME PIECES 3,319,961 5/l967 Wilson 273/137 R x [76] Inventor: Cyril Endfield, 39 Thurloe Sq., FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS London 7, England 16,560 5/1905 Great 1311mm 34/5 GP [22] Filed: Dec. 1, 1972 OTHER PUBLICATIONS [21] Ap No 311,211 Home Furnishings Daily, 5/6/68, p. 1

Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner paul E Shapiro n 6 6 Alt A L y T l & H- d 58 Field of Search 273/137 R, 137 AC, 137 F, Omey ay m S 273/137 A, 136 D, 203; 34/5 GP, 5 CH [57] ABSTRACT [56] References Cited assembly of gtarlnelpiercfs, in narticulvzsirfla ehgss tSe;

51 e, omprises u uar 3,101 pieces in en e UNITED STATES PATENTS rims to interengage in axial series and pack as a comg posite sheath on a mandrel with an intermediate oep er 3,517,935 6/1967 Graham u 273/137 R sleeve made up from segmented tubular minor p1eces. 1,738,596 12/1929 McLeod 273/203 4 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures GAME PIECES SUBJECT OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to game pieces and in particular to chess sets and will be described as applied to a chess set but the possibility of its application to other game pieces, such as checkers or draughts or variations of such games as may exist, or be devised, is not excluded.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The main object of the invention is to provide a chess set which is easily portable in a compact assembly, resistant to damage and of which the pieces are comfortable to handle, stable on the board and have esthetic shapes easily recognisable as associated with traditional chess sets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART The invention is derived from the concept that by making pieces of tubular form their size can be large enough for comfort in handling and stability on the board whereas their weight can be relatively low and their internal space can be utilised for support with economy of space in a portable pack.

It is known that in 1967 Robert C. Capels designed a chess set of hollow conical and frusto-conical pieces designed for all the pieces of each side to nest in their own King.

Also in 1967 Charles Perry made a chess set (The Museum of Modern Art New York) of tubular pieces, one side of the set being of circular cylindrical form and the other of rectangular cross-sectional form, designed for the pawns and six subject major pieces of each side to nest inside their own axially-interlocked King and Queen. In this set the pawns are tubular segments each with a plane transverse base rim and an oblique top rim.

STATEMENT OF THE MAIN AND SUPPLEMENTARY FEATURES OF THE INVENTION The present invention also employs tubular pieces but designed for coaxial end-to-end interengagement to form a tubular series pack as compared with nesting of pieces inside one another.

The invention therefore comprises an assembly of more than two game pieces of uniform tubular crosssection, each piece being separately stable when upright on a horizontal surface, two of the pieces having at least one end rim of indented shape and the remaining pieces having both end rims of indented shape so that, when the pieces are juxtaposed coaxially end-toend in a given series, all the opposed ends of adjacent pieces interengage longitudinally and the assembly then makes up a substantially complete single tube of a length less than the sum of the maximum lengths of the individual pieces.

In the chess set embodiment of the invention, the assembly of game pieces comprises the eight major pieces of one side of a set and the order of the given series is the same as the initial rank order of the pieces in setting up the game of chess.

The preferred form for the major pieces of a chess side comprises two rooks, each with a transversely plane base rim and a castellated top rim, two knights, each with a castellated base rim and a top rim indented between substantially quadrantal projections of conventional horse-head form, two bishops, each with an indented base rim to interengage with a knight top rim and a top rim with miter projections, a Queen, with a base rim indented to interengage with the bishops miter and present full-length skirt portions and a top rim of shallow undulating shape as the Queens crown, and a King with a base rim of undulating shape to present a gown hem form to interengage with the Queen's crown and a top rim deeply serrated to present the Kings crown and engage with his bishops miter.

To complete a chess side and therewith a portable pack, the major piece assembly is combined with a mandrel and eight uniform tubular pawn pieces to form a sleeve on the mandrel and be sheathed by the major pieces.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred design of chess set in accordance with the invention is illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rod pack of an assembly of one side of a chess set in accordance with the invention,

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are corresponding perspective views of the inner components of the pack being respectively a split tubular protective liner, a sleeve made up from pawn pieces and a carrier mandrel,

FIG. 5 is an axial section through the pack of FIG. 1, and

FIGS. 6 to 11 respectively are elevations of the rook, knight, bishop, Queen, King and pawn pieces.

The chess pieces shown by the drawings constitute one side of two rocks 1, two knights 2, two bishops 3, a Queen 4, a King 5 and eight pawns 6.

To form the pack shown by FIG. 1, the pawns 6 are threaded on to the mandrel 7 (FIG. 4), up to a stop provided by a fixed end cap 8, the pawns being juxtaposed coaxially and arranged with their transversely plane base rims 9 and oblique top rims 10 (FIG. 11) alternately opposed so that they form a complete sleeve 11 (FIG. 3).

The split tubular protective liner 12 (FIG. 2) is then placed over the sleeve of pawns, this liner conveniently being made of a flexible plastics material and the split enabling it snugly to embrace and be stripped from the pawn sleeve by a lateral movement instead of by axial sliding which would involve a radial clearance and thus a less snug fit.

The major pieces are then threaded on to the liner 12 in their ranking order of rook, knight, bishop, Queen, King, bishop, knight and rook followed by an end cap 13 which has a split tubular skirt 14 to fit and grip frictionally on the end of the mandrel 7.

From FIG. 1 and FIGS. 6 to 10 it can be seen that each rook 1 has a transversely plane base rim and a castellated top rim, each knight 2 has a castellated base rim, to fit the top rim of the rook, and a top rim indented between substantially quadrantal projections of conventional horse-head form, each bishop 3 has an indented base rim, to fit the top rim of the knight and a top rim with two triangular miter projections, the Queen has a base rim, triangularly indented to fit the bishops miter and leave full-length skirt portions, and

an undulating top rim as her crown and the King has an undulating base rim like a gown hem to fit the Queens crown, and a deeply serrated top rim as his own crown into two relatively large indents of which the bishops miter will fit.

It will of course be appreciated that, for a complete chess set, another side is provided, identical in shape to that illustrated, and the two sides are contrasted in color.

The pieces preferably are made from metal tube but could be die-cast in metal or moulded from other materials of sufficient weight and rigidity to provide comfort in handling and stability in use.

Although the invention has been described as applied to circular tubular pieces it will be apparent that any stable tubular section could be used, e.g. oval or polygonal.

I claim:

1. An assembly of eight game pieces of uniform tubular cross-section constituting the major pieces of one side of a chess set and comprising two rooks, each rook having a transversely plane base rim and a castellated top rim, and the remaining six pieces each of which has both rims of indented shape so that, when the eight pieces are juxtaposed co-axially end-to-end in the same series as the initial rank order of the pieces in setting up the game of chess, all the opposed rims of adjacent pieces interengage longitudinally and the assembly makes up a substantially complete single tube with plane ends.

2. An assembly according to claim 1, in combination with a mandrel, eight uniform tubular pawn pieces which, when assembled in axial series form a sleeve to fit on the mandrel, the tubular assembly of the major pieces forming a sheath for the sleeve of pawn pieces, and end cap retainers for holding the combination of the mandrel, the sleeve of pawn pieces and a sheath of major pieces together as a cylindrical rod pack.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 in which said remaining six pieces comprise two knights each with a castellated base rim and a top rim indented between substantially quadrantal projections of conventional horse-head form, two bishops each with an indented base rim to interengage with a knight top rim and a top rim with miter projections, a Queen, with a base rim indented to interengage with the bishops miter and present full-length skirt portions and a top rim of shallow undulating shape as the Queens crown, and a King with a base rim of undulating shape to present a gown hem form to interengage with the Queens crown and a top rim deeply serrated to present the Kings crow and engage with his bishops miter.

4. An assembly according to claim 3, in combination with a mandrel, eight uniform tubular pawn pieces, each with a transversely plane base rim and an oblique top rim, the pawn pieces, when juxtaposed coaxially with successive base and top rims alternately opposed, forming a sleeve to fit on the mandrel, the tubular assembly of the major pieces forming a sheath for the sleeve of pawn pieces, and end cap retainers for holding the combination of the mandrel, the sleeve of pawn pieces and the sheath of major pieces together as a cylindrical rod pack. 

1. An assembly of eight game pieces of uniform tubular crosssection constituting the major pieces of one side of a chess set and comprising two rooks, each rook having a transversely pLane base rim and a castellated top rim, and the remaining six pieces each of which has both rims of indented shape so that, when the eight pieces are juxtaposed co-axially end-to-end in the same series as the initial rank order of the pieces in setting up the game of chess, all the opposed rims of adjacent pieces interengage longitudinally and the assembly makes up a substantially complete single tube with plane ends.
 2. An assembly according to claim 1, in combination with a mandrel, eight uniform tubular pawn pieces which, when assembled in axial series form a sleeve to fit on the mandrel, the tubular assembly of the major pieces forming a sheath for the sleeve of pawn pieces, and end cap retainers for holding the combination of the mandrel, the sleeve of pawn pieces and a sheath of major pieces together as a cylindrical rod pack.
 3. An assembly according to claim 1 in which said remaining six pieces comprise two knights each with a castellated base rim and a top rim indented between substantially quadrantal projections of conventional horse-head form, two bishops each with an indented base rim to interengage with a knight top rim and a top rim with miter projections, a Queen, with a base rim indented to interengage with the bishop''s miter and present full-length skirt portions and a top rim of shallow undulating shape as the Queen''s crown, and a King with a base rim of undulating shape to present a gown hem form to interengage with the Queen''s crown and a top rim deeply serrated to present the King''s crown and engage with his bishop''s miter.
 4. An assembly according to claim 3, in combination with a mandrel, eight uniform tubular pawn pieces, each with a transversely plane base rim and an oblique top rim, the pawn pieces, when juxtaposed coaxially with successive base and top rims alternately opposed, forming a sleeve to fit on the mandrel, the tubular assembly of the major pieces forming a sheath for the sleeve of pawn pieces, and end cap retainers for holding the combination of the mandrel, the sleeve of pawn pieces and the sheath of major pieces together as a cylindrical rod pack. 